Category Archives: dating apps

Online romance scams expand, now with more cryptocurrency

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Reports of online romance scams continued to grow in 2021, according to the Federal Trade Commission, and cryptocurrency payments now represent a big chunk of the money lost. Complaints about these heartbreaking swindles added up to $547 million overall last year, the agency said Thursday, up about 80 percent from the $307 million reported to the FTC in 2020. Of that total, $139 million in reported losses came from cryptocurrency transactions. In those cases, the victims often are subjected to a fancier plea for money than what typically occurs in a romance scam. “People are led to believe their new online companion is a successful investor who, before long, casually offers investment advice,” the FTC said. “These so-called investment opportunities often involve foreign exchange (forex) trading or cryptocurrency.” The spike in cryptocurrency-oriented complaints is dramatic. The 2021 numbers “are nearly five times those reported in 2020, and more than 25 […]

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Norway fines Grindr for $7.3 million over privacy breach

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Norway’s data protection agency is fining LGBTQ+ social app Grindr nearly $7.1 million for unlawfully disclosing personal data to third parties for marketing. The ruling follows a 2020 complaint by the Norwegian Consumer Council alleging that Grindr shared user device data with third parties that, due to the nature of the app, effectively allowed advertisers to connect those users with information about their sexual orientation. The Norwegian DPA, known as Datatilsynet, concluded that Grindr did not have proper consent mechanisms in place allowing users to specifically opt-in to the sharing of their data for advertisements by third parties. “We consider that data revealing the fact that someone is a Grindr user strongly indicates that they belong to a sexual minority,” the DPA wrote. “Data concerning a person’s sexual orientation constitutes special category data that merit particular protection under the GDPR. As the consents Grindr collected were not valid, Grindr could […]

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Smashing Security podcast #241: Flipping dating apps, and crypto rewards for criminals

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How to find your match on the Bumble dating app, convicted criminals make money out of cryptocurrency, and there are concerns about data in Afghanistan. All this and much more is discussed in the latest edition of the award-winning “Smashing Secu… Continue reading Smashing Security podcast #241: Flipping dating apps, and crypto rewards for criminals→

Flaw in popular video software Agora could have let eavesdroppers in on private calls

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An error in a popular video calling software development kit could have allowed hackers to spy on private video and audio calls through services including eHarmony or Talkspace, according to McAfee research published Wednesday. The flaw, which stems from an encryption error, affected a video-calling software development kit (SDK) developed by Agora.io that is used by dating services such as eHarmony, Plenty of Fish, MeetMe and Skout and medical applications such as Talkspace, Practo and Dr. First’s Backline, according to McAfee. Agora is used by 1.7 billion devices for a whole host of applications used for educational, retail and gaming purposes as well as for other socializing reasons, the company says. The flaw, known as CVE-2020-25605, is accounted for in an update Agora issued in mid-December, according to McAfee. Agora did not immediately respond to a request for comment. McAfee’s Advanced Threat Research team does not have any evidence that the […]

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Romance scam victims reported $304 million in fraud in 2020, a new high

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Deceptive online behavior prompted plenty of emotions last year. Anger, fear, anxiety, frustration — take your pick. Just don’t forget heartbreak. Exactly how much heartbreak? The Federal Trade Commission’s scam-tracking team doesn’t monitor emotions, but it does collect complaints from people who say they were victims of romance scams. In 2020, they were worth a record $304 million — an increase of about 50% over the previous year. Some of the fraud was initiated through dating apps, the FTC said, as people flocked to them during months of stay-at-home orders during the coronavirus pandemic. But social media was an even greater source, the agency said. “Scammers fabricate attractive online profiles to draw people in, often lifting pictures from the web and using made up names. Some go a step further and assume the identities of real people,” the FTC said. “Once they make online contact, they make up reasons not […]

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Grindr faces fine of nearly $12 million in Norway for alleged privacy violations

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Norway’s data protection agency is proposing a fine of $11.7 million against Grindr for the alleged improper sharing of users’ data to third-party companies for marketing purposes. The Norwegian Data Protection Authority (DPA) said Tuesday that Grindr, which bills itself as “the world’s leading LGBTQ+ social application,” had shared, without full consent, users’ GPS locations, profile data and other information with other companies. Grindr has until Feb. 15 to argue against the decision. The case, which applies to the free version of the app, originated with a 2020 complaint from the Norwegian Consumer Council, and it falls under Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The DPA said the fine of 100 million Norwegian kroner would represent its largest ever, reflecting that “our findings suggest grave violations of the GDPR.” “Users were not able to exercise real and effective control over the sharing of their data,” the Norwegian authority says. The […]

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Troy Hunt Flags Up ‘Sensational’ Sextortion Bug in Grindr

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Grindr, the popular dating app, had a ridiculous bug in its password-recovery flow. To make matters worse, Grindr ignored the bug for a week.
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5 Dating Apps Leak More than 1 Million User Profiles and Sensitive Information

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This month, WizCase researchers discovered 5 separate data leaks of personal information belonging to dating app users in the US, Japan and South Korea. The data, which was easily accessed due to misconfigured and unsecure servers, included user inform… Continue reading 5 Dating Apps Leak More than 1 Million User Profiles and Sensitive Information→

Data Breach: Bundle of Dating Apps Leaking Sensitive Information Discovered

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Three misconfigured Amazon Web Services (AWS) S3 buckets leaking highly sensitive information from multiple dating apps and websites were discovered by vpnMentor researchers on May 25. According to a report published June 16, the S3 buckets contained 8… Continue reading Data Breach: Bundle of Dating Apps Leaking Sensitive Information Discovered→

‘Bot or Not?’ – a game to train us to spot chatbots faking it as humans

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Can you tell whether you’re talking to a human or AI? Continue reading ‘Bot or Not?’ – a game to train us to spot chatbots faking it as humans→